Eyes on the prize

“The majority of my council have growth on their mind, a really strategic view. We look up at the blue sky not down at our feet. We want to grow the Naracoorte Lucindale Council area with Naracoorte as the hub.”

That is the view of Naracoorte Lucindale Mayor Patrick Ross as his council maps out the future of their council area with the next 12 months dominated by some major capital work programs.

The Naracoorte Livestock Exchange and Boddington Road projects head that list.

“We have spent $1.5million on the livestock exchange with new roofing, new yards and five new loading ramps and that has just been completed which is great,” Mayor Ross said.

The recommencement of the Boddington Road project, which was halted by some environmental concerns, is also one of the flagship projects of 2024.

“The project has now gone to tender, it has been two or three years coming and it is great to have that back on track,” Mayor Ross said.

There are plenty of other capital works now ready for the community to enjoy including the $400,000 spent at the swimming lake.

“Summer hasn’t been what it could have been to date but the swimming lake looks fantastic and they are putting on a couple of movies at the lake for kids and their families,” he said.

And redeveloping facilities for both locals and visitors alike is a focus in the next 12 months, with Cockatoo Lake set for a new amenities building – it is currently a concrete tank.

“In this modern era we need to provide a good amenity so visitors have a good experience and good memories of what we offer,” Mayor Ross said.

A similar project will be undertaken at Pioneer Park in Naracoorte.

Ensuring the visitor experience is the best it can be, given tourists can become invaluable ambassadors for your region, is high on council’s agenda, tapping into the opportunities being a stone’s throw from the World Heritage Listed Naracoorte Caves.

“People that visit the caves stay in Naracoorte, do their business in Naracoorte, and we want them to say what a great place Naracoorte and district is to visit – you can’t put a dollar value on that kind of publicity,” he said.

Population growth in the Naracoorte Lucindale area is easily outstripping most regional areas and that means council will also be continuing to advocate to State and Federal Government for essential infrastructure projects and the associated financial support.

“Our three per cent growth is off the scale of growth in regional SA,” Mayor Ross said. “People want to come here and I know this council has a vision for the Naracoorte Lucindale Council area going from nearly 9000 today to 12-13,000. To do that we need a vibrant business sector and people wanting to be here.”

Of course, council cannot lost sight of the ‘rates, rubbish, roads’ foundation of local government and Naracoorte Lucindale Council is taking an in depth look at their road maintenance program.

“We are about to finalise the terms of reference and put out to tender for an independent consultant to look at the way we do our business around our unsealed roads,” Mayor Ross said. “In terms of plant and machinery costs, raising rubble and the like, we want to find out where Naracoorte Lucindale Council sit benchmark wise against other local governments across Australia.

“We need to know are we really good or are we average and where can we make improvements or are we below average and need to make great improvements and we need to know so we can maximise how we are spending people’s rates and that it is in the best possible way with the best possible results.”

Once commissioned, that report should drop well before the end of the year.

The Naracoorte Regional Sports Centre will be an ongoing community discussion with the latest round of community consultation now being worked through by council as they look to ascertain just what the community wants this redevelopment to look like and what price tag they are prepared to accept.

“I think it’s important we have exceptional sporting facilities,” Mayor Ross said. “For population growth to happen we need to supply facilities for the entire community. Across our landscape we have 60-70 sporting associations and this year we are going to do a complete audit of organisations, what they do and what they need, and that will also help inform council in regards to the Regional Sports Centre.”

Investigating what sort of financial support would be provided by State and Federal Governments for such a project will also be on the to-do list this year.